August 1, 2021

Worship Resources for Pentecost XI

Call to Worship  (from Psalm 51)

One:  We come to worship God, the Merciful.
Many:  Grateful, we stand steadfast, knowing God washes us thoroughly.
One:  We come to worship God, the Creator.
Many:  In joy, we claim the One who gives us clean hearts and new spirits.
One:  We come to worship God, the Judge.
Many:  Confident, we receive the assurance of our salvation,
               and the gift of God’s Holy Spirit.
All:  So let us worship the Lord, our God!

Opening Prayer 

Holy God, Merciful, Creator, Judge, 
We are your people. 
Today we give you thanks for your mercy, your steadfast presence
     and the gift of your forgiveness for our sins.
Receive our gratitude as we worship you this hour.
May we be strengthened to live today and every day
      in loving relationship with you.
May the words of our mouths, the meditations of our hearts and
     the actions of our hands declare that desire not only to you
     but to all with whom we share this life.   AMEN

Moment for Stewardship  (from Ephesians 4)

In the life of every congregation, the recognition comes of the variety of gifts which have been given to different individuals.

Some gifts might be over-looked until they become necessities. 
Knowing how to use a wet vac may seem superfluous until the basement floods!
Aptitude with a tow truck may seem an unlikely gift until the church van breaks down with five youth and their sponsors on board.
And who knew how important You Tube and Facebook would be for a functioning congregation until COVID closed down our “normal” means of communicating and sharing worship!

Every individual has received gifts for the purpose of equipping the saints for the work of ministry!

How will you share the gifts you’ve received?  Perhaps in direct action, and perhaps also in monetizing your gift and sharing financially from the work of your hands/hearts.

As we receive our morning offering, consider how your gift/s will build up the body of Christ. 

Without you and your gift/s, we cannot come to maturity, Paul writes.  It takes ALL of us, working and sharing together, to help reach the full stature of Christ!

Let us receive our morning tithes, gifts and offerings.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Holy Giver of every good and perfect gift,

Thank you for this opportunity to claim the gifts we’ve been given.
Challenge each one of us to recognize what we have received
     and how we can best use these gifts to proclaim our love for you.
Thank you for this time to offer our gifts to build up of the body of Christ. 
AMEN

Invitation to Communion  (from John 6:35)

For many, bread has become part of the “eat sparingly” list, because of gluten, calories or too many other good things to fill our bellies.
But for most of the world today, and for the people of Jesus’ world, bread is/was an essential — a basic part of every meal.

So it makes sense Jesus uses “bread” as a way of describing his essential nature – “the bread of life”. 

When we come to the Table today, we find the essentials here:  some symbolic or emblematic form of food and drink.  Behind these simple elements is the solid truth of Jesus as essential to life.

For those present in the sanctuary, our bread is ________________.  If you’re worshipping online, I hope you have some essential elements (bread, cracker, chip, cookie, along with wine, juice, milk&honey).

Together, let us “come to Jesus”, sharing these emblems of life, and actively remembering our Lord as our hungry hearts are satisfied.

(Use CH #429, You Satisfy the Hungry Heart” as your communion hymn or communion music)